September 23, 2013

For anyone who didn't hear we went to DC for the first time last Monday. It was awesome to see all the sights that I've seen pictures of my whole life. The most exciting part however is that we were there the same day the shootings took place. It took place at the Naval Yard which was half a mile away from the capital. We didn't know until lunch time when we saw the headlines on the TV. The headline was something about a shooter possibly still on the loose in DC and we were right in the middle of it! They didn't shut anything down and life went on as usual, but it was pretty crazy. 

We saw the Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam and Korean war memorials, The Capital, and the American History Museum. Some guy came up and started talking to us while we were there because he was a member. When he saw my name tag, he was like "Braden Miles!? From Lone Peak!?". That was kinda freaky, but turns out it was Kyle Morris' dad, so it was cool to talk to someone familiar.

Before I left the Armstrong’s gave me some gifts and one of them was a plastic card titled My Missionary Commission. I read it the other day and I really like it. It says: 

"I am called of God. My authority is above that of the kings of the earth. By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my Master and he has chosen me to represent him. To stand in his place, to say and do what he himself would say and do if he were ministering to the very people to whom he has sent me. My voice is his voice, and my acts are his acts; my words are his words and my doctrine is his doctrine. My commission is to do what he wants done. To say what he wants said. To be a living modern witness in word and deed of the divinity of his great and marvelous latter-day work.” -Elder Bruce R. McConkie 

That really gave me more confidence and motivation! I carry that in my pocket now and I read it anytime I need some motivation.

I finished reading Mosiah today. I love the story of Abinadi. He stood in front of kings and priests and testified boldly of their iniquity. He told them to repent or they would be destroyed. He knew he would die and yet he did what the Lord commanded and didn't back down. That ties in great to missionary work. Sometimes we don’t invite people to be baptized because we are afraid they will say no. We aren't going to be burned to death (maybe ) and yet sometimes we get nervous to invite people to repent. I love when it talks about people who fear God and not man. We should all care more about following Gods commandments then worrying what other people think of us. In the end, who really cares what other people think of us?

Our minivan has been in the shop for the last several days getting fixed up, so we got a ride across our area to a member’s house for dinner. After dinner they dropped us off at an appointment and we planned on just walking home afterwards. The appointment fell through, so we decided to head home and do some street contacting as we went. Right as we started back, it started to rain (of course... haha). We walked in a down pour for about a mile before a member saw us and picked us up. We were soaked, but it wasn't cold and I actually enjoyed it! The Gundersons are the ones that picked us up. They said they are going to Utah in a couple weeks to stay with some friends in Cedar Hills! I told them they should stop by my house and meet my family. They know a bunch of people from LP and Ricks College that we know. So you can expect that in a few weeks!

Another scripture I found this week, that I really like, is Mosiah 23:21. This takes place when the people of Alma are being really righteous and living how they should. It reads "Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith." The people are then captured and put into bondage to the Lamanites. Even though we are doing all we should and living righteously, God is going to try our patience and faith. Sometimes people wonder why they have trials even though they haven’t done anything wrong. It’s because God wants us to progress. "This life is a time for men to prepare to meet God" (Alma 34:32) and so we can’t just stay "good" because he wants us to be great. He forces us to show our faith to get through adversity. The people of Alma "submit cheerfully and with patience" and continually pray for the Lord’s help. He helps to ease their burdens and eventually frees them from bondage. If we just show our faith and trust in the Lord he will he ease our burdens and help us out of our trials. It seems bad at the time, but it forces us to learn and grow. We become better because of it as long as we don’t give up. I hope that all made sense because I had tons of ideas running through my all at once (haha).

We put an investigator on date for baptism yesterday! We taught this guy’s wife once, but then we could never contact her again. We ran into this guy on the street and later when we showed up to his house I was thinking "I've been here before..." Turns out they had just gotten divorced. They have been here from India for 15 years and he used to be Hindi, but he says it didn't feel right. He has turned to smoking and drinking because he has been depressed and lonely. His only joy comes from his 14 year old son who comes over occasionally. We've taught him twice now and he really wants a clean start and true happiness. We promised him that he will get those things in this church. He knows the basics of Christianity, but that’s easier to build up his beliefs instead of change them. We all have some work to do before he can be baptized, but he will get there.

Love,

Elder Miles

The White House

Arlington Cemetery